More than 19.5million people – a third of the country’s population – watched last night’s televised debate between French presidential hopefuls Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande.

Francois Hollande (left) v Nicolas Sarkozy (Picture: Reuters)

With Socialist candidate Mr Hollande consistently ahead in the polls for the last several months, centre-right UMP incumbent Mr Sarkozy failed to land a knockout blow in the debate, jointly presented by TF1 and France-2 TV.

The sole head-to-head debate during the campaign was the last major hurdle before Sunday’s election finale.

During the contest Mr Sarkozy repeatedly accused his rival of lying over plans to raise taxes and boost spending.

At one point Mr Sarkozy shouted ‘It’s a lie! It’s a lie!’ as both candidates repeatedly spoke over each other and gesticulated during each other’s answers.

Socialist candidate Francois Hollande (Picture: Reuters)

Incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy (Picture: Reuters)

The campaign has largely focused on domestic issues such as the weak economy, immigration and the integration of French Muslims, but the result will have a huge bearing on the eurozone, with Mr Sarkozy and German chancellor Angela Merkel presenting a united front on how to deal with the debt crisis.

Mr Sarkozy said last night he was not ‘the only guilty one’ with regard to the eurozone’s woes, to which Mr Hollande replied: ‘Mr Sarkozy, you would have a hard time passing for a victim. It’s never your fault. You always have a scapegoat. “It’s not me, it’s the crisis that hit me”.’

Afterwards, Mr Hollande said he had shown voters ‘what I was capable of’.

But he added: ‘I don’t think this is a debate… that could bring out new voters.’

Political scientist and former pollster Stephane Rozes told France-3 TV that he thought Mr Hollande ‘held up well’.